Magazine warns Japanese society on verge of becoming an 'income-based caste system'

Not sure how 20.6 % of households on 6.4 million yen are falling below the poverty line. I mean, I'm sure you are not going to be flush trying to support a family on that amount, but falling below the poverty line?

Anyway, most developed countries have been on this path for a while now - the last couple of decades this has just accelerated with large transfers of wealth to a smaller number of people after the 2008 financial crisis and now through the COVID pandemic (not earned btw, just transferred indirectly to them and which will be paid for by everyone else because their savings and salaries will be worth less due to inflation and increasing property prices meaning people have to pay a larger proportion of their salaries on mortgages and rent). Now the government talks about increasing the consumption tax yet again - basically a regressive tax as poor people have to spend a larger portion of their income. It is the exact opposite of what needs to be done right now.

Very interesting and "social instability will become inevitable" is definitely true, this is a difficult issue to solve, almost impossible because of high debt (also globally), poor birthrates, social security burdens increasing and low immigration, especially high value, plus, with the LDP crew on the wheel, no chance

From personal experience, I know for a fact that here in Japan a lot of people who do not like their current jobs, that believe they are not being paid what they deserve, that they are being exploited, and many people that think they "should" leave their current jobs, never do, because Japanese people are extremely risk averse, and many of them prefer to just continue to be a slaves for some horrible job than to look for other alternatives.

Also doesn't really help that the few that do try to improve their lives and look for better work alternatives and better work life balance, get constantly attacked by mass and social media, like the so called "Freeter" being almost a dirty word, and for example people who work for Uber Eats and Wolt full-time.

I know people who actually make a pretty decent amount of money by working about the same hours on Uber Eats and other delivery services, and it is double or triple what they used to do in their slave like job, but when they were in their slave-like job they were seen by society as "responsible" workers, while if they go for some gig economy thing like Uber eats, they are seen as a "societal problem", even though their lives are way better.

It's already a reality in Japan. The strange reality is that the rich elites of Japan are now mostly foreign. Primarily, Chinese to Taiwanese. After them, you have Southeast Asians. The Japanese elites now kowtow to these Asian elites for favors to stash their corrupt Japanese money in foreign lands.

Like the Kono family, it's rumored that they are lobbying for Japan to abolish the single citizenship rule to allow people holding dual citizenship, and the Kono family is just recently granted a favorable investment deal in China (less than 100 million USD which is a penny to Chinese elites). I learned this from an aide of mine.

I regularly read Yahoo News to see how many Japanese people complain that Asian elites buying up real estate assets to drive up the prices and rental costs. In restaurants, Japanese people sip cold noodles, while foreigners have expensive meals.

Japan's income caste system will resemble like British Raj in the future.

Isn’t it partly that post industrial societies will never again experience that boom of growth? What China is going through now. At least Japan has kept their public services, roads, etc in good shape. The US in many parts is crumbling like a dry cookie, especially the roads in the north. The crappy attitude of many overweight and lazy government employees is sad. The only technology that could break this cycle of declining wealth in the middle classes is some kind of free home energy unit.

You can thank business school graduates at least partly for this sad state of affairs. In the neverending quest for shareholder dividends, rank-and-file workers, no matter how diligent and loyal, became expendable.

Desert TortoiseJan. 27  05:13 am JST

 In the US, we call it "house rich, income poor".

Once one's home is paid for, in the US at least, living is comparatively inexpensive. 

That depends entirely on location- what State, what County. There are affluent suburbs of major US cities that have Real Estate taxes that are so high that the cost matches the mortgage payments. If a homeowner pays down their mortgage, those taxes can even exceed them. House rich, cash poor is a pretty common scenario.

In Japan, and I believe everywhere, Taxes connected to Real Estate ownership are "nothing" in comparison.

Japan can thank America and the Plaza Accord for the sinking of their economy. Trying to do the same with China now.

Shouldn't the term used here be "reverting"?

Japan's economy was still struggling to recover from the Lehman Shock of 2008 when the COVID pandemic knocked it for a loop. The impact has been so profound that a special report in business magazine Shukan Diamond (Jan 21) concluded Japan's once egalitarian society is on the verge of morphing into a "Japanese version of a caste system."

What do the two disaster capitalism shocks have in common? Massive public wealth transfers to corporations while the public was left with the rugged struggle with free market capitalism.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/04/cramer-the-pandemic-led-to-a-great-wealth-transfer.html

Is it any surprise the rich get richer and the poor get poorer under socialism for the rich, rugged free market capitalism for the poor?

Japan used to be more egalitarian, as were other nations.

This survey sounds highly flawed. They only asked people within commuting distance of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka?

 In the case of the former middle class, average annual household income declined from ¥7.508 million in 2019 to ¥6.455 million in 2021, a fall of 12.8%, resulting in 20.6% of these households falling below the poverty line.

That is the fourth lowest out of their fifth classes.

Japanese median household income, i.e., the number below which half earn less, is 4.4 million.

https://hataractive.jp/useful/3668/

Below these are 14.5 million households headed by executives, specialsts and professionals who make up the "new middle class,"

So nearly one in four Japanese households includes an "executive, specialist and professional" who is above a regular salaryman or city hall employee, their third category. That is utter nonsense.

daikaka - Where are these “poor” people? How come i never see them?

Perhaps you need to take your blinders off, and venture outside of your little bubble.

Then, you might notice all of those little run-down 2 and 3-story apt buildings with a dozen or so one-room units each. or, all of the giant municipal apt complexes. Who do you think lives in those?

How about all those old men with red flashlights at the entrances/exits of retailer parking lots? Have you not seen them? Or, every adult conbini or fast food employee? Are they invisible, as well?

Even many full-time employees and salarymen/women are living paycheck to paycheck, waiting for their semi-annual bonuses to be able to buy something nice, or maybe pay for a brief vacation trip before heading back to the drudgery that is their everyday lives.

There are those "poor" people you never see for some odd reason.

 In the US, we call it "house rich, income poor".

Once one's home is paid for, in the US at least, living is comparatively inexpensive. A mortgage payment often eats close to half of one's take home income. Rent is often more than half. Eliminate that mortgage payment and be debt free otherwise and you can get by on less income. I don't see that as being poor. If it allows me to cut work hours and enjoy life more it is a benefit.

Income doesn't tell the whole story. There are non-financial assets that can make people very wealthy, but can't be used without selling them. In the US, we call it "house rich, income poor". US farmers have been that way for generations. It happens in every society where families gift assets to the next generation at death without hefty taxation for the inheritance transfer.

Japanese economy should be at least 8 trillion US dollars California, Texas,New York GDP is equal too that of Japan

Where are these “poor” people? How come i never see them? Government statistics is very flawed as Japan is still a very cash based society, with large amount of income in cash, and vast amount of cash stored in homes. I live in an area where the gov says average income is 5M but practically every other house is driving a Benz, BMW or Lexus, etc. When I go out, i see the more expensive the restaurant, the fuller and harder to book it is. Disposal income indicators such as average mobile game spendings see Japan lead the world by a long shot.

I frankly dont think most Japanese rely on income, but rather assets. A recent survey showed that 80% of Japanese would not want to switch from a 5M job to 10M job if it meant more work. Definitely doesnt look like a society with a lot of people lacking money to me.

@GBR48 Good point!!! If you have small children and you are not already in the mindset of creating "generational Wealth" then your kids future is already doomed, especially if you are struggling or having a hard time saving.

Global growth supports social mobility. The policies of our governments over the last few years have ended that. So everywhere is now functioning as an income-based caste system. If you are not yet rich, you are stuffed.

Global growth supports social mobility. The policies of our governments over the last few years have ended that. So everywhere is now functioning as an income-based caste system. If you are not yet rich, you are stuffed.

The impact has been so profound that a special report in business magazine Shukan Diamond (Jan 21) concluded Japan's once egalitarian society is on the verge of morphing into a "Japanese version of a caste system.

So says this magazine and the Oyaji. Complete rubbish! We know ourselves and don't need these jokers to label us.

Wait. What is the caste system they've already had for decades? Is that not it?